


The Chain

by petrichorishly



Series: Denouement [1]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Attempted Kidnapping, F/M, Post-Devil Face Reveal to Chloe Decker, Post-Season/Series 03, Protective Lucifer, TDN Hell-oween Exchange, Vegas Roadtrip, convenient warehouses, working through issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 13:09:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16476161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petrichorishly/pseuds/petrichorishly
Summary: Roadtrips solve everything, right?So, things should work out fine, when Chloe takes Lucifer on a roadtrip to Vegas after ignoring him for two weeks straight.





	The Chain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [youcantmakeme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/youcantmakeme/gifts).



> Part of the Deckerstar Network Hell-oween Exchange.  
> The original prompt was _Las Vegas, red_ and _spider_ and I tried to work that in as well as I could. This is a gift for youcantmakeme and I hope you enjoy it.

_And if you don’t love me now_

_You will never love me again_

_I can still hear you saying_

_We would never break the chain_

_—_ The Chain by Fleetwood Mac

 

Her phone rang just as she unlocked the front door of her apartment. That’s what it was these days: _her_ apartment. Maze had not made an appearance ever since the whole Pierce fiasco and Chloe had her suspicions that she had been told to stay away. Sooner or later, Chloe feared, she would run into trouble with the rent but for now she could manage. She’d find a new roommate eventually. Maybe this one could actually be human, you know, it would sure be an exception in her life right now.

Chloe tried not to think about her partner, in fact, she had avoided doing so for the last two weeks. Well, that wasn’t quite true. She tried, sure, but it never worked. Every free minute she had, her thoughts returned to the fact that her partner had been telling the truth all along. And how was she supposed to deal with her entire worldview being thrown out the window?

She didn’t dare even _think_ the word starting with a capital D.

At first, he’d tried calling her, had sent several texts, but when she’d resolutely ignored him, he’d quickly given up. Chloe still felt guilty for not even reading his messages.

Struggling to drop her bag from her shoulder and getting her phone out of her pocket at the same time, she swore under her breath and finally managed to accept the call after checking the caller ID, making sure it wasn’t—well, it wasn’t.

“Decker.”

“Hey, Chloe, it’s me,” Dan’s voice came from the speaker, sounding somewhat worn out.

“Hey, Dan. What’s up?”

“Chloe, I know you will want to yell at me and you have every right but I’m incredibly hungover and I would really appreciate it, if you could refrain from doing that.”

“Dan, what—aren’t you in Vegas with your cousin?”

“Yeah, his bachelor party may have gotten out of hand.”

“What happened?” Chloe held her phone between her shoulder and her ear as she quickly washed her hands in the sink.

“Long story short, I don’t have my wallet anymore, don’t have my phone, my cousin and a few of his friends left me stranded in Vegas and I don’t have a way to get back to LA.”

Chloe froze. “What the he—what happened, Dan?”

“Doesn’t matter. I just really need you to do me a favor.”

“You want me to pick you up from Las Vegas? Are you serious?”

“Please?”

With a huff, Chloe pulled the phone away from her ear, stared at it for a moment with disbelief, then put it back. “Dan, it’s Halloween. I just got home early from work to take Trixie out trick-or-treating. I can’t just drop everything and drive to Vegas.” She held up a finger, as if he could see her. “Wait, even better, I don’t have car. It’s in the shop.”

“Borrow a car from someone?”

“You can’t be serious?”

“Come on, Chloe. I bet Lucifer will let you borrow one of his cars for a day or two. He owes you at least that much after ghosting everyone.”

Chloe’s throat locked up when Dan spoke his name and she desperately tried to swallow or breathe for that matter, but she couldn’t. It took her about ten seconds to calm down enough to suck in a deep breath. “What about Trixie?”

“Surely someone else can take her trick-or-treating.”

Her eyes narrowed. “And that’s exactly why we divorced. Trixie doesn’t come second, Dan. Not to me.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. Sorry, I really—” Chloe could hear him sigh and thought he was probably rubbing a hand across his eyes. Someone else said something in the background and Dan covered the phone for a moment. Then he was back. “Look, Chlo, I have to give the phone back. _Please._ Please, come get me. I promise I’ll make it up to you. I’ll make it up to Trixie.”

“Damn it, Dan!” Chloe swore. “Where do I pick you up?”

Dan rattled off the address of the hotel he’d been staying at with his cousin and thanked her profusely before hanging up. Chloe dropped the phone on the couch and then let herself fall into the cushions as well. Trixie would be home from soccer practice soon. She really wasn’t looking forward to explaining this to her daughter. The girl would be devastated. Not only wasn’t Maze there to come trick-or-treating with them, now Chloe wouldn’t be going, either. She would have to find a sitter for Trixie. On Halloween, the chances of finding someone at such short notice were almost zero.

Still, Chloe tried. She called her go-to sitters but just as expected, not a single one was available. Frustrated, she called Ella to ask to borrow her car. Screw what Dan had said, Chloe wouldn’t ask her partner for a car. They hadn’t spoken in two weeks and, oh right, she was pretty sure he wasn’t even human. So, no, thank you. She would not ask him for a favor.

Ella sounded genuinely sorry, when she told Chloe that she would be out of town tonight, taking her car. Thanking her anyways, Chloe hung up and began to dial Linda before remembering that the woman was _his_ therapist. She locked the phone, grabbed a throw pillow and screamed into it. Why, for fuck’s sake, had she agreed to pick up Dan?

Trixie would be home any minute and Chloe had no idea what to do. She had no car and no sitter. She could, however, get a rental and bring Trixie along. Her daughter would throw a tantrum, albeit a silent one. Trixie wasn’t the girl to yell and throw things, no, she would silently pout or cry, which in Chloe’s opinion was way worse.

She had one other solution.

Hesitantly, she picked her phone up again, staring at the black screen for several minutes. She could just call _him._ Yes, she’d been putting it off but for a very good reason. After all, her partner was—he was—damn it, she couldn’t even think it. How was she supposed to string a sentence together with him on the phone?

Before she could stop herself again, she unlocked the phone and immediately found his name in her contacts. She avoided looking at it for too long, choosing instead to just press it and hold the phone to her ear. Somewhere in the turmoil of her thoughts she realized how fast her heart was beating as she listened to the dial tone. He didn’t pick up right away and Chloe had to fight the part of her that was trembling with anxiety, so that she wouldn’t cave and hang up.

And then, he did pick up.

“…are you quite sure you meant to call _me_?”

His voice made Chloe experience a blue screen of death, her mind suddenly blank.

“Detective?”

With difficulty she managed to clear her throat. “I—I need to ask you for something.”

She could practically hear him frown. “What?”

“I want to ask you for a favor.”

“Right. Well, it’s been wonderful to speak to you, but I don’t think we should go down that rabbit hole. Goodbye, Detective.”

“No, wait—”

“Why? You’ve obviously lost your marbles. And even if you haven’t, why would I want to grant you a favor? You made it quite clear that—” He broke off. Chloe could tell he was angry but tried not to yell at her. Eventually, he finished, “I thought we were done.”

Chloe gulped. Were they? Her silence had probably been a clear message to him. She wanted to respond, wanted to ask him so many questions but suddenly all she could see were red glowing eyes. The same eyes that haunted her dreams ever since that day.

A curse could be heard on the other end of the line. “What would you ask of me?” It sounded like he spoke with clenched teeth, anger now more apparent.

“I—I need a car.”

“You need a car?”

“Just for today and tomorrow. Would you lend me a car?” Chloe squeezed her eyes shut, her fingers wrapped tighter around the device in her hand as she waited for his answer.

“What for?”

“I need to—Dan’s stuck in Vegas and he wants me to pick him up.” Her request sounded more and more ridiculous the longer she talked to him, she thought.

“A Douche rescue mission? And you want my help?” he scoffed. “I can’t say I expected anything quite like this. Just to be on the same page here, you know who and what I am, right? The reason you’ve ignored me for the last two weeks?”

Chloe shook. Of course, she knew. How could she deny it anymore? “Yes,” she whispered, her voice failing her.

There was a pregnant pause on the other side of the line and for a moment Chloe thought that perhaps he’d hung up. Then, “Fine. I will lend you a car but I will ask for something in return. I will accompany you on this trip.”

“You what?”

“You heard me. You will only get the car, if you take me along.”

“Why would you—why?”

“That’s the deal. Take it or leave it, Detective.”

“But…” Chloe began but what was she supposed to say. She really had no right to argue and to be quite honest, she didn’t want to anger him any further than she already had by ignoring him. Would she manage a road trip to Vegas with the Devil riding shotgun, though? Eventually, she took a breath and forced herself to stop shaking. “Okay.”

“Really?” He sounded like he’d have expected anything but her agreeing to this.

“Yes, really. But Trixie is coming along. Is that okay?”

He didn’t answer straight away and Chloe imagined him staring at her incredulously. “You want to bring your spawn along?”

“I couldn’t find anyone to watch her while I’m gone.”

“Fine by me,” he grumbled, then cleared his throat. “We have a deal, then?”

“I guess,” Chloe responded.

“Come now, say it properly.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping she wouldn’t regret this. “Deal.”

“Deal,” he agreed. “Shall I pick you up, then?”

“Be here in an hour. Trixie isn’t home, yet.” And with that she hung up without so much as a goodbye. Her fingers were still wrapped around her phone, though, and she had trouble releasing it for a few moments as the numbness in her fingers receded.

She had just willingly agreed to spend a roundtrip of about eight to nine hours in a car with him. Even worse, half of that time Dan would be there as well. Dan blamed Lucifer for most of what had happened with Pierce and probably wouldn’t hesitate to voice his opinion. But he didn’t know what Chloe knew. He didn’t have all the facts. And Chloe feared the Devil’s reaction to being blamed for everything.

It would be fine, though. It had to be. Her partner hadn’t changed, right? He’d just revealed another side of himself. One that Chloe wished she could un-see, especially at night, when it refused to stop haunting her dreams.

The knock on the front door signaled Trixie’s arrival home. Chloe hurried to open the door and thank Clarice, Trixie’s friend’s mother, for dropping her off. Her daughter greeted her enthusiastically and then ran past Chloe to her room. Just as Chloe had closed the front door, her daughter returned, wearing part of her Halloween costume.

“I’m so excited, mommy!” she exclaimed and twirled around, showing off her jacket. Chloe had turned one of Trixie’s old jackets into a spider costume by sewing four spider legs onto the sides. It wasn’t her best work but Trixie loved it. “When are we going trick-or-treating?”

“Trixie, could you come sit with mommy for a second?”

Trixie’s face fell immediately. She had picked up on her mother’s tone and knew it didn’t mean anything good. She trotted over to the couch and slowly sat, her expression apprehensive.

“Look, monkey, I know you’ve been looking forward to this and I hate to do this to you, but we can’t go trick-or-treating today. I’m sorry.”

Trixie nodded slowly, accepting the news somberly. “Why not?”

“Your dad called and he needs help, so we have to go on a little trip to pick him up.”

“A trip where?” Trixie asked, her interest peaking a little.

“To Las Vegas. Your dad doesn’t have a car and can’t get home on his own, so we are going to pick him up.”

“Are we going to stay in a hotel?” Trixie began bouncing up and down excitedly.

“We probably will. It’s too late to drive there and back in one sitting. Is that okay? Does that make up a little for not going trick-or-treating? I promise, we can postpone our scary movies and pillow fort to tomorrow.”

“Yeah, that’s okay, mommy,” Trixie smiled and hugged her mother from the side. Then she sat up, frowning. “But we don’t have a car, either. That’s why Becca’s mom had to drop me off.”

“Oh, yeah, I had to borrow a car from—a friend. From a friend,” Chloe explained quickly.

“From Lucifer?” Trixie exclaimed.

“How did you guess that?” Chloe asked with raised eyebrows, trying to hide her flinch at the name.

“He has really cool cars.”

Chloe nodded. “He does. He’s also coming along.”

“Lucifer is coming with us on the trip? That’s so cool!”

“How about you go pack your bag, honey? You need your pajamas and toothbrush and a change of clothes. We have to leave soon.”

Trixie jumped off the couch and disappeared into her room, skipping along the way. It seemed she didn’t mind the change of plans that much but Chloe was still second-guessing the entire thing. With her mind circling around the looming trip, she ascended the stairs to her room and began packing a bag as well.

She saw his car through the window of her bedroom twenty minutes before he was meant to be there. He had foregone the Corvette, for they needed more space than the two-seater offered, but it was still obviously his car, the expensive model standing out from the other cars in the lot. It parked where her sedan usually stood and Chloe only looked out of the window for a second before jumping backwards. Her heart stuttered a little. It only made her realize that even though she had told herself repeatedly that everything was fine—totally _fine_ —she was nervous.

Why, though?

Was it because they hadn’t talked in two weeks outside of their phone call? Or was it because she didn’t know how _he_ felt about what happened?

Or just maybe it was the fact that she couldn’t even bring herself to _think_ his name, let alone say it out loud. The double meaning it suddenly held made her space out whenever she thought about it. Who was she kidding? Chloe was nervous because she was about to get into a car with the biblical Devil, drive all the way to Vegas and back, and they never even addressed the biggest elephant in the room.

She had kissed him. Chloe had kissed Lucifer. And just before everything had gone to literal Hell, he had kissed her once again.

How was she supposed to face him after all that had happened? After not even giving him a chance to explain?

She was half expecting him to stroll into her apartment, all suave and sure of himself, announcing his arrival but he did no such thing. The minutes came and went and just as Chloe asked Trixie to put on her shoes and get ready to leave, her phone buzzed once. She looked at the text message, of course from him—she had to suppress the shake of her fingers as she unlocked her phone—and all it said was _outside_. Squeezing her eyes shut for a few seconds, her fingers wrapped tightly around the phone in her hand, she took a breath and reached for her jacket and keys.

“Trixie, you ready? We’re leaving.”

“Coming, mommy,” Trixie called from her room. “Can I take my music?”

“Sure, monkey. Grab it and don’t forget your bag.”

On her way out the door, Chloe grabbed a handful of chocolate bars from the bowl she’d already placed next to the door for the trick-or-treaters. Hopefully, it would be enough to placate Trixie during the trip.

Trixie emerged from her room—not wearing her spider jacket anymore, Chloe noted—and Chloe held open the door for her. With her daughter by the hand and her overnight bag in the other, she made her way to the parking lot. Stupidly, her heart skipped another two beats, when she saw him leaning against the driver’s side of the car, a cigarette between his lips and the smoke wavering around his face. For a moment her mind tricked her, superimposing a red, scarred visage over his face, but she blinked and as he looked up at her approaching, he was just—just her partner of three years.

He didn’t smile. Didn’t let any emotion whatsoever show on his face. All he did was take hold of the cigarette and flick it to the ground before Chloe and Trixie reached the car. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered whether he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to smoke around Trixie.

With only about six feet between them, she gathered all her courage. “Hey.” Wow, eloquent.

“Hi, Lucifer!” Trixie’s enthusiastic greeting almost made Chloe flinch. Had it really been the best idea to bring Trixie along on this trip? She was supposed to be her shield, which sounded very cowardly but made an awful lot of sense in her head. Trixie loved Lucifer—and wasn’t that just a fucked-up sentence—so she would hopefully help dissipate some of the obvious tension. Her daughter seemed to already have picked up on that little detail, Chloe thought, otherwise she would have already attached herself to Lucifer’s legs. His demeanor right now was unpredictable, though, his stiff posture suggesting that a hug attack wouldn’t be appreciated right now.

“Hello, Detective. Beatrice.” His voice was the same as it always had been. Of course, it was. “Shall we be on our way, then?”

“Yes, sure.”

“Let me?” he asked, reaching out a hand to take the bag off her. She handed it to him and hated herself for trying to avoid touching his hand. She just couldn’t shake the thought of what was underneath his human façade. After stashing her and Trixie’s bags in the trunk of the car, he opened the door to the backseat and motioned for Trixie to get in, then held out the car key to Chloe. She only blinked at him. “Well, it’s your road trip and you asked to borrow the car, so it makes sense that you drive.” He jingled the keys a little and then dropped them in her hesitantly outstretched hand. “Also, you hate my driving, so…”

“You hate my driving even more that I hate yours,” Chloe argued as he went around the car to the passenger seat.

“That’s because you drive very slowly, Detective.”

“It’s _safe_ not slow.”

“Disagree,” he quipped as he gracefully folded himself into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut.

Chloe stood rooted to the spot for another three seconds before getting in the car as well. To say that she was confused was an understatement. What had just happened? It had almost felt like their usual banter. No, not almost. It had been so very _normal_. Did that mean he wasn’t angry? Was she scared that he would be angry? After all, she’d been the one to run away.

She turned the key in the ignition, ignoring the proximity between herself and the _literal_ Devil, and steered out of the parking lot. Trixie bounced a little in the backseat, her eyes solely focused on Lucifer.

“Mom says you’ve been busy with your club.”

 _Great_. Chloe momentarily wished for a hole to swallow her up.

Lucifer didn’t look at Trixie. He just stared out the windshield. “I suppose on some level that’s true. There were some problems with a delivery. It took me a couple days to sort that out.”

He wasn’t lying, Chloe knew that much for sure. But he knew that Chloe had lied to Trixie and she could see it in the hard lines of his stern expression, when she glanced sideways, that he disapproved of it. And yet, he didn’t call her out on the lie.

He cleared his throat. “And what have you been up to, child?”

“Me and my class helped decorate the school hallway for Halloween yesterday. So, today it looked all cool and the other kids thought so, too.”

“Sounds dreadful. The children, I mean. Decorations I can get behind.”

“I was going to be a spider this Halloween. Mommy made me a really cool jacket with extra arms,” Trixie declared excitedly.

“Extra arms?” Lucifer turned slightly towards Chloe.

“I sewed them onto an old denim jacket,” Chloe tried to explain but his expression didn’t lighten up in understanding. Instead it seemed to grow even more irritated.

“Why this obsession with putting on scary masks and costumes on Halloween?” he grumbled.

Chloe’s mouth was quicker than her brain and she asked, “You don’t need a costume, do you?”

She could have sworn the temperature in the car rose, and suddenly sitting next to him felt like sitting next to a ticking bomb. Or maybe a black hole. His presence felt stifling, too big in the small confines of the car, too much. She caught Trixie’s gaze in the rear mirror and saw her eyes widen in alarm—

Chloe blinked and the feeling was gone. It left her breathless. Lucifer to her right had pressed himself deep into his seat, unmoving, his eyes firmly fixed on the windshield wiper outside. What had just happened?

“Apologies, Detective. That was not my intention.”

“What was that?” she breathed.

“An accident.”

She swallowed. Once. Twice. “Was this a bad idea? Should I… pull over?”

“No. Please.” He seemed to struggle with any further words and eventually added, “Keep driving. It won’t happen again.”

They had just left the outskirts of Los Angeles, the drive having remained entirely silent ever since, when Chloe tightened her grip on the steering wheel. “Hey, monkey, why don’t you listen to your music for a little while?”

“Grown-up stuff?”

“Sometimes you’re too smart, you know that?” Chloe smiled at her daughter. “Will you please listen to some music while L-Lucifer and I talk about some grown-up stuff?” She struggled to get that sentence out, her tongue feeling numb after saying his name out loud for the first time in two weeks.

Trixie grumbled a little. “Well, it’s better than you two not talking at all.”

Chloe pressed her lips together. It had to be rather confusing for Trixie, their behavior on this drive so far, and she hated upsetting her daughter. But Trixie was already untangling her headphones, plugging them into her ears, and Chloe reached for her purse and pulled out a chocolate bar, handing it to her daughter, one eye kept on the road.

When she turned back to put both hands back on the wheel, she saw Lucifer’s eyes following her hand all the way from Trixie back to the steering wheel. His face had taken on an expression she only knew too well. It was so _Lucifer_ that she failed to see him as anything but her best friend in that moment. With a sort of fond exasperation and a sigh passing her lips, she reached down into her purse, extracted a second chocolate bar and held it out towards her partner.

He didn’t hesitate in taking it from her, unwrapping it instantly. Chloe couldn’t help but smile. “You are a child, you know that?”

“I take offense to that,” Lucifer replied through a mouthful of chocolate.

A beat. “I’m guessing the point of this whole trip is to talk.”

“I thought the point was to pick up Sir Douche from Vegas.”

“Lucifer, I need you to be serious for a minute.”

“Right,” he said in a clipped tone. “To be quite honest with you, Detective, I didn’t get the feeling that you wanted to talk to me ever again. Understandably so. But then, out of the blue, you call and ask for a favor.” He huffed out a laugh. “You ask _me_ for a favor, knowing exactly who and what I am.”

“Will that have consequences for me?”

He sighed. “Of course not. Your end of the deal was to take me along, and would you look at that, here I am.”

“But why? Why insist on coming along?” Chloe demanded to know, her throat tight.

“Because disregarding the fact that you don’t want to talk to me, _I_ wanted to talk to _you_.” It sounded like a confession. Maybe it was. “I was about to leave LA for good but then you called and, well, I’m taking this last chance to spend time with you, however forced.”

Chloe didn’t know what to say first. Her thoughts spun round and round and she feared the pause in their conversation was getting too long, so she threw out the first thing that came to her mind. “First of all, you didn’t force me.”

“What?”

“It’s true. I didn’t have to take the deal. And I didn’t have to call you in the first place. Maybe, whether I like it or not, I wanted to talk as well.”

“The last two weeks left me with a rather different impression.” He paused and looked down at his hands in his lap. “I frightened you.”

“You did.” Chloe saw him flinch at her honest admittance. “I need you to help me understand. Lucifer, I’m scared. I feel like I don’t know anything anymore.”

“You know me.”

“Do I, though?”

He bared his teeth in a grimace. “Yes, you do.”

“Really? Because from what I’ve heard about—about _the Devil_ , he deceives and he tempts. How am I supposed to know what’s real and what isn’t? What do you actually want? What do you want from _me_?”

Lucifer didn’t answer straight away. His head was turned away from her, looking out through the window into the semi-darkness of the evening. When he spoke, his voice was full of defeat. Maybe even sadness. “Everything I’ve told you about me is the absolute truth. I don’t lie. I don’t sit on people’s shoulders and tempt them to sin. I don’t condemn people to Hell. And when I came to Los Angeles eight years ago, all I ever wanted to be was free.” He put special emphasis on that last word. “And I haven’t changed just because you suddenly believe me. I’m still the same.”

“You’re saying, you meant all that? You don’t kill, you only punish. You retired as the ruler of Hell?”

“Oh, look, she has been listening.”

Chloe forced herself not to get angry with him for his sarcasm. Didn’t he understand that this wasn’t exactly easy for her? “Then why me?”

“Ask my father, if you expect an answer to that. Tell me, if he responds, yeah? I’ve got a few things I’d like to discuss with him.”

“I’m not asking God, though, I’m asking you.”

“Believe it or not, Chloe, I don’t want anything from you except your company. I don’t have an ulterior motive. You are my friend, my partner—or at least you were. I’m guessing this trip will be the last time we see each other.”

She was rather stunned. Her fingers flexed on the leather of the wheel and she took her foot off the gas pedal, trying to sort through her mind, which was whirling on at an alarming speed. “You’re saying, you… you are just here to make friends?”

“I’m here to live, first and foremost. Having friends is a rather lucky side effect. The people I’ve met have made that experience better than I could have ever imagined it to be.”

“You consider us friends?” She couldn’t quite get her mind around it. The Devil, an immortal being, who knew how powerful, second only to God himself, considered her—Chloe Decker—a friend.

Her question had him turn his head to look at her and she felt incredibly small under his scrutinizing gaze. “I was hoping that’s what we were.”

“My best friend is the Devil. Great, yeah, why not?”

“Why does that scare you?” Lucifer asked hesitantly, but with open curiosity.

She let out the air in her lungs in a half-whistle. “Where do I start? You are a supernatural being that most people would deny actually exists. I am a single mom, who currently struggles with paying the rent.” She lifted her pointer finger from the wheel to start a counter. “You are older than humanity, I guess, where I am in my thirties.” Her middle finger joined her pointer finger. “You are not human. You have supernatural abilities.”

He stopped her with a hand held up between them. “Your perspective makes me look bad, Detective. Allow me,” he mirrored her earlier actions by holding up one finger, “I am, as you pointed out earlier, a child. I don’t have any socially acceptable qualities worth mentioning. I can’t interpret my feelings, which is why I need Doctor Linda to do that for me.” A second finger. “I played Monopoly with your child, let her draw glittery animals on my face and you once declared my enthusiasm for action movies as ‘oddly adorable’.” Third finger. “I have come to care so much for you and your spawn that I disregard my personal safety whenever it comes to you.”

He was about to lift another finger but Chloe intervened, swatting his hand away. With a jolt, she realized that she’d just swatted the Devil, but she pushed the thought down. “Your personal safety? You are the one who constantly claims to be immortal.”

“Unfortunately, not around you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that as a celestial being, my feelings influence myself physically. I feel vulnerable, when I am with you, so that’s what I become.” He threw his hands up in frustration. “So, really, if you want to get rid of me that badly, please shoot me. It would save me from pathetically committing suicide.”

“No.” Her voice was barely a breath and she couldn’t see the road in front of her for a moment as her eyes brimmed with tears.

“What do you mean, no?”

“You can’t kill yourself. Please, Lucifer. Don’t—”

“Do you care?” he spat. “Be honest with me. Do you care whether I am here or not?”

“I don’t want you to die, Lucifer.”

“That doesn’t answer the question. If I die, I simply return to Hell. It’s not the end for me. So, be honest, if I were to return to Hell right this second, would you care?”

The tears betrayed her and rolled down her cheeks. She saw Lucifer scoot back a little at the sight of her tears and he was about to speak once more but she beat him to it. “I don’t want you to leave.” She wished that would have come out a bit stronger, so she tried again. “I want you to stay. I _need_ you to stay. I know I was the one who ran away. I shouldn’t have. I should have stayed and let you explain but I was so scared of what it all meant. After Marcus, well, I trusted him and it backfired and then, when I realized that you weren’t—or that you _were_ who you said you were, I panicked.”

“Okay.”

“Just—okay?”

“What do you want me to say? I will not apologize for being who I am. Because I dare say that you liked who I was before you saw my face.” It sounded like he was challenging her to say _no_. And Chloe knew, if she did, he would call her out on the lie. Who knew, maybe he could tell, when someone lied.

Instead, she remained silent. And so did he. For a while, all that could be heard, was the smooth rumble of the engine. The desert landscape outside was quickly being plunged into the darkness of the night as they drove on. Trixie had been silent and as Chloe checked the rearview mirror, she found her daughter’s eyes had closed, her headphones still in her ears.

Lucifer’s voice startled her slightly. “I suppose that brings us back to the point of me coming along on this trip.”

“It does?”

“Yes. I asked to come along, so I would get the chance to tell you that it was never a lie. I care for you and being your partner has been the best part of my existence.” He took in a breath. “You never had anything to fear from me. I apologize for frightening you.” Chloe wanted to respond, let him know that she was mostly at fault here but he continued. “Now that I got that off my chest, you won’t have to see me again.”

“Hold on a minute! You can’t just leave!”

“You’ll find that I can.”

“No, Lucifer! You can’t!”

“Who is going to stop me? You?” he laughed. “I am an archangel. I go where I want to and when I want to.”

Chloe’s jaw dropped but she quickly recovered. “You arrogant—”

“ _Chloe,_ _watch_ _out_!”

A loud bang sounded as the front tires ran over a spike strip, followed by the screeching of the brakes as Chloe tried to stop the dangerously swerving car. Trixie screamed. Chloe desperately tried to straighten the car. It was no use. With a sudden feeling of weightlessness, the car skidded off the road and Chloe couldn’t tell which way was up anymore.

With the car crashing into the unforgiving ground, everything went black.

* * *

 

The first thing she became aware of was a pounding ache behind her eyes. Then the rest of her body joined in, making her acutely aware of every single bruise, every single cut. Carefully, she opened her eyes and was met with darkness. A blindfold. Her hands were tied behind her back with thick rope, restricting most movements.

She was lying on a firm surface that rumbled with movement and the sound of an engine. The back of a truck? Save for the engine she couldn’t hear much else and panic began to rise inside her chest.

Where was Trixie? What had happened? Someone was kidnapping them but why? And what about Lucifer?

With a groan, she tried to sit up. As soon as she moved, though, she heard a gruff voice.

“The chick is awake.”

“So?” Another voice joined.

“Knock her out again. We don’t want her causing trouble before we’re even there.”

Chloe’s chest constricted painfully. “No, wait, no—” She began struggling against her binds but she felt someone shift somewhere to her left and a moment later a fist connected with her temple and she was plunged back into unconsciousness. 

The next time she came to, the blindfold was gone. She blearily blinked her eyes open until she could make out her surroundings in the dim light of a neon lamp overhead. The bare gray walls, the lack of windows, and the concrete floor pointed towards this being a warehouse of sorts.

The rope binding her hands was gone and had been replaced with metal handcuffs that connected to a heavy chain which again connected to a metal ring in the cement floor. However, her chain wasn’t the only one connected to the ring.

About ten feet away was Lucifer, also handcuffed, lying in a heap on the floor, his suit jacket gone and his head bleeding from a cut above his eyebrow. He was breathing but showed no signs of being awake otherwise.

Quickly, Chloe double-checked that they were alone in the spacious hall before starting to rob across the floor towards Lucifer. The chain connected to her handcuffs made an awful lot of noise, she thought, but maybe her headache only amplified the sound. Her entire body ached by the time she reached her partner.

“Lucifer?” He was on his stomach and she tapped his shoulder to try and wake him. When he didn’t react, she shook it lightly and elicited a groan from him. His position on the floor looked uncomfortable, like whoever had brought them here had dumped him without a care in the world. His handcuffed arms were somehow tangled underneath him and when consciousness slowly came back to him, he tried to roll over but the chain stopped him. “Lucifer, you need to wake up. Please.”

His groan turned into a growl, when she shook him again. Chloe pulled her hand away instantly for she was sure that no human should be able to make such a sound. And Lucifer wasn’t. Really wasn’t human.

His eyes fluttered open and landed on Chloe. “Detective?” he drawled slowly.

“Yes, it’s me. Are you hurt badly? Can you move?”

He frowned, then seemed to realize that something was wrong with their situation. He shifted slightly, groaned again and stilled. “Ow.” Once again, he tried to roll over and succeeded this time. With stiff movements he straightened and began to sit up. He didn’t seem to have noticed his handcuffed state, yet. Trying and failing to sit up, he pulled on his restraints with a frustrated huff. “What the hell is this?”

“We’re going to have to find something to pick the lock—", Chloe began but her voice faltered as Lucifer looked down at his handcuffs and Chloe watched as the cuffs simply _fell off_. Her jaw dropped. “What—? How did you do that?”

“I believe you’ve asked this question before, Detective,” Lucifer said and rubbed his abraded wrists. Then he reached out towards Chloe, slowly and all the while gauging her reaction, placing his fingers on the cuffs around her hands and Chloe couldn’t believe her eyes as the cuffs opened and fell away just like his.

She realized that, yes, she had asked that exact question before and it had only been a day after she’d met him for the first time. Her thoughts whirled through her head like a tornado. Lucifer had done this before. And she had written it off as just another trick. All those doors that had just been _open_ , whenever Lucifer was the one to try and open them.

“Detective, are you alright?” His voice broke through the haze that had begun to cloud her sight. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay. I’m fine,” she said hastily. “They ambushed us. They made us crash and then shipped us off to God knows where.”

“Yeah, he’s probably having a good laugh right about now.”

Chloe ignored the implications of his quip and instead tried to think things through. They needed a way out. They had to—oh no. “Trixie!” she exclaimed. “Where is Trixie? Where did they take her?”

Lucifer opened his mouth, maybe to comfort her, but suddenly his eyes flew towards a door across the room. His expression darkened dangerously and in one graceful motion he was off the ground, the chain falling from his lap to the floor. “Someone’s coming.”

True to Lucifer’s word, a moment later a young man opened the heavy door, the hinges squeaking horribly in the otherwise silent room, and Chloe pushed herself off the floor as fast as her bruised body would allow her. It didn’t take the guy long to realize that they were both awake and then only a moment longer to see that neither of them was cuffed anymore.

“Hey,” he exclaimed and pulled out a shiv that he brandished in their direction threateningly as he approached. When he stepped closer, the neon light illuminating his features, Chloe saw that he wasn’t just a young man. He was but a boy. Probably not even of age. His sneer was tainted by nerves but he tried to hide it behind his weapon and loud commands. “Don’t you fucking move or I’ll gut you. Don’t think you’re going anywhere.”

Chloe had her eyes trained on the knife in the boy’s hand but next to her, emanating from Lucifer, the air pressure grew, the temperature rising impossibly fast. Her breath hitched as her heart jumped in her chest erratically. _Shit, oh shit, oh shit—_

What was she supposed to do? There was nothing she _could_ do. Her body was frozen, every instinct screaming at her to get away from the danger right next to her, to get away from _the Devil_ , but what if she moved? The kid would lash out and then Lucifer would—oh God, Lucifer’s anger was palpable in the air and it only seemed to grow with every passing second.

“Please,” Chloe begged with a shaking voice. “Please, my daughter. Where is she?”

“Shut up, bitch!”

Chloe bit her tongue and tasted blood as the stifling feeling grew. Briefly, she wondered how the kid hadn’t noticed the danger, yet, but she focused on more pressing issues. “Lucifer?”

He stepped past her, movements like a panther stalking its prey, and placed himself between Chloe and their attacker. “I suggest you choose your next action very carefully.” His voice was low but still it buried itself into Chloe’s chest like a shard of ice. “You will not hurt her.”

Chloe forgot to breathe for a moment as a thought shot through her head and she didn’t know whether to find it comforting or not. The Devil had appointed himself her protector. What was she supposed to do with that information? A small part of her felt like laughing hysterically but she put a firm lid on that and pushed it down.

“Lucifer, don’t—”

“Don’t what? Don’t stop him from stabbing you?” He turned to look at her and she felt herself take a step backwards at his unblinking gaze.

“Don’t hurt him,” she whispered.

“He’s just a kid. A stupid kid, mind, but still a kid.” Lucifer slowly tilted his head to the side as he eyed her carefully. “Do you really think I’d harm him?”

She didn’t get a chance to answer for suddenly the boy lunged and attacked. The knife didn’t find its target, though. Lucifer evaded the blade gracefully and seconds later, he had disarmed the kid and Lucifer had him by the back of his neck, pushing him down to the floor.

“Bad idea, boy. Very bad idea,” Lucifer chided. “Now, I’m willing to bet this wasn’t your idea, so come on. Tell me, who ambushed us?”

His only answer was a whimper but when Lucifer shook him a little, the words spilled from his mouth hastily. “I don’t know much, sir. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. They wanted the child. They sell them or smuggle them out of the country. They kidnapped me years ago but couldn’t find anyone to buy me. They hurt me, if I don’t follow their orders. I’m sorry.”

“Where did they take Beatrice?” Lucifer growled in the boy’s ear.

“They’ve got her outside, ready to take her away.”

Chloe began to panic. She had to get to Trixie and quick. Lucifer seemed to be thinking the same thing for he hauled the boy up to his feet. “How many are out there?”

“Two, sir.”

“Take us to them. And know that if you are lying, I will make you regret it.”

He pushed the boy forwards and followed him closely. Chloe hurried to keep up with him as they exited the room the same way the boy had come. Behind the door was another room, filled with a couple of desks, almost like an abandoned office, if the desks hadn’t been covered in knives and pictures of children.

Chloe tried to keep the tears at bay. How many kids had they already kidnapped and sold? How many families had they torn apart?

Lucifer suddenly stopped and reached behind one of the desks. He pulled out their bags that Chloe had already thought lost in the car wreck. Quickly, Chloe scanned the desks and eventually spotted her phone and wallet. Luck was on her side there. Now, she only had to get to Trixie.

Lucifer pushed the kid into motion again. He led them through a small hallway that ended in a door, leading outside. That’s where the boy stopped and Lucifer gave him one last glance before kicking the door open with incredible force, the resulting bang making Chloe wince. She followed outside immediately and then stopped right next to Lucifer.

Chloe’s eyes instantly found Trixie. Her ponytail askew, she cowered on the sandy ground, shaking with every sob. At the sound of the door flying open, her head shot up and Chloe wanted to do nothing more than run to her daughter but the gun that suddenly pointed at Trixie’s head stopped her dead in her tracks.

“What the hell, Jack? Why are they running around free?” The man waved the gun at Chloe and Lucifer, the latter instantly took a step forward to stand in front of Chloe. Alarmed by the movement, the gun was fixed on Trixie again. “Don’t you fucking move or the brat gets it.” A second guy appeared next to him and pulled out a knife.

“Lucifer—” Chloe choked. She reached out to grab Lucifer’s left arm, holding him back, but he wasn’t moving anyway. She glanced up at his face and found his eyes fixed on the hand that held the gun with murderous intent.

The kid, Jack apparently, suddenly made a break for it. He ran past two trucks parked a few yards away and disappeared in the dark of the desert. Chloe couldn’t have cared less. At least that meant one less guy to worry about. Trixie had stopped sobbing, the tears didn’t cease, though.

“Mommy,” she whimpered.

“It’s okay, monkey.”

“Oh, shut it, before I really do shoot her. Now, I suggest you surrender. Ed,” he addressed the guy with the knife. “Go and tie them up again.”

Ed approached them, the knife in his outstretched hand. Chloe felt panic setting in and her hold on Lucifer’s arm tightened but still he didn’t move. Still, his eyes were firmly fixed on the hand with the gun. “Lucifer,” she breathed. “Lucifer!” Why wasn’t he doing anything?

“He hurt her.” His voice was low and every word carefully enunciated. Chloe was about to yank his arm to finally get him to move but then his words clicked and she followed his eyes. It only took a moment before she realized that he wasn’t staring at the gun but the hand. The hand that bore a heavy silver ring, tainted by the dark red of blood. And it matched a still bleeding cut on Trixie’s cheek.

She froze for just a second but it was enough time for the guy named Ed to reach them. Once more Chloe pulled on Lucifer’s arm but he didn’t budge. He took his eyes off the man with the gun, however, turning on Ed instead.

Ed yelped and then screamed. He dropped the knife, his terrified eyes wide, and staggered backwards, stumbled and fell. Chloe barely had time to form a coherent thought before Lucifer suddenly stalked forward, grabbed Ed’s collar and lifted him high in the air. The man’s screams got louder and Chloe _knew_ what he saw.

With a growl that was entirely inhuman, Lucifer threw the man. He flew through the air in a high arc and the gunman didn’t have time to scramble out of the way, too surprised by what was happening, and was taken down by the human projectile. The gun flew out of his hand and Chloe winced as it went off, the bullet whirring into the dark somewhere.

It pushed her into action and she made a run for Trixie, gathering her up in her arms as Lucifer stalked towards the two men on the ground. Trixie’s fists held on tight as Chloe got her off the ground and backed away from the impending struggle. She chanced a look at Lucifer as he reached the gunman and what she saw drowned out every single noise until all she could heard was the beating of her own heart and her lungs struggling to draw in air.

His eyes were deep red, glowing in their intensity, and as he hoisted the man up in the air by his shirt collar, his entire face seemed to flicker for a moment. Before she could see anything else, she felt Trixie’s grip tighten, though, and unfroze, immediately turning Trixie and herself away from the sight of the Devil.

She still heard him, though. “How dare you hurt her?”

The only answer was more screaming and Chloe thought she heard Ed struggle off the ground before escaping the same way Jack had. Lucifer didn’t stop him, too preoccupied with the gunman. Chloe fought with her instincts telling her to do the same and flee but what about Lucifer? Would he kill the man? She couldn’t let him do that. No matter who he was and no matter what the man had done. She couldn’t let Lucifer kill him.

“Trixie, I need you to be very brave and go hide behind the truck, okay?”

“Mommy, I don’t want—”

“I know, babe, I’m sorry, but you have to. Please,” she begged. “Go. And don’t look back again.”

She pushed her daughter in the direction of the trucks and Trixie complied and ran. Chloe turned back to Lucifer and his victim, who still dangled from the Devil’s grasp. She dared to take a few steps closer but then her legs forsake her.

“Lucifer, stop,” she said, more firmly than she thought she could. “Please, stop.”

“Not this time! This filthy waste of oxygen hurt you and your daughter and he will learn once and for all that that was the worst choice he could have made.” His eyes were still glowing red as he regarded his wriggling prey with disgust. Chloe tried not to look at them directly but still they made her shiver.

“You can’t kill him.”

“Oh, but I could. Wouldn’t be the first time I killed a human, either,” Lucifer spat. “I could drag him down to Hell myself.”

“But you won’t.”

His head suddenly turned and those haunting eyes were now fixed on her. “What makes you so sure of that?”

“If you wanted to, you’d have already done it. And I know you don’t.” He scoffed but Chloe didn’t let it deter her. “Please. I just want to get out of here.”

“Then go.”

“Lucifer, I need you to stop.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched as his red eyes stared at her unblinkingly, rendering her totally immobile, until he growled out a curse and averted his gaze. He dropped the man with a carelessness that one would associate with dumping a garbage bag. Before the guy could scramble away, though, he placed a foot on his chest. “I will not forget what you’ve done. You’ll spend the rest of your life knowing that I’m waiting for you at the end. I’m in every shadow, every monster in the dark. Remember that,” he spat. “Now, run, little thing, run.”

He removed his foot and the man didn’t waste any time making his escape, following the other two into the dark of the night. Lucifer watched him go, then suddenly turned away, glancing at Chloe once with— _thank God_ —deep brown eyes and stalked past her to where he’d abandoned their bags next to the door. He passed her with only a few inches distance and she could still feel the heat, the stifling radiance of power that he emitted.

Chloe breathed heavily in the sudden silence. She forced her body to stop shaking and squeezed her eyes shut for a second before calling out, “Trixie! Honey, come back to mommy.”

Trixie immediately came running from behind the truck and straight into her mother’s arms. She didn’t say a word, which was so unlike her that Chloe’s heart jumped up to her throat with worry. She was shaking herself and all she could do to comfort her daughter was to continuously rub her hand up and down Trixie’s back. She was crying silent tears into Chloe’s shirt and every now and then her body shook with a sob.

Lucifer returned and dropped the bags at her feet. She didn’t know what to say, what to do, not when faced with him this head on. He had stopped, when she asked, but that would not work every time. She got lucky this time, she thought. But what she needed now was to get Trixie to safety.

“I need to get her out of here, Lucifer. I need to get her somewhere safe. But we don’t even know where they took us. I mean, we were unconscious for more than an hour. We could be walking for hours until we get somewhere with cell reception.”

Lucifer glanced at her and down at Trixie, his expression guarded. Chloe couldn’t read him, no matter how hard she tried. But he inclined his head in a slight nod before approaching the two pick-ups and wrenching the passenger door of one open. Chloe watched, still holding on to Trixie tightly, as Lucifer rummaged through the glove department and eventually returned with what seemed to be a map and a flashlight. He clicked on the light and the beam illuminated the worn-out map he placed on the desert sand to Chloe’s feet.

Chloe tilted her head to the side to make out the names of towns and cities, leaning a little closer. She beckoned to Lucifer with one hand, who handed over the flashlight, so that Chloe could inspect the map further. She guessed, the light was mostly for her benefit, for he seemed to be able to see just fine in the moonlit semi-darkness of the night, or he would have never spotted the blood on the gunman’s ring.

“What time is it?” he asked.

Chloe consulted her watch. “About 1 a.m. now.”

“What time _exactly_?”

“Ten past.”

Lucifer took a step back and looked up to the sky. Slowly, he turned first left, then a little to the right as he inspected the inky black dotted with stars. Chloe frowned but he seemed to be doing _something_ , so she didn’t interrupt. He looked back at her before crouching down next to the map, pointing a finger at a spot in the middle of the desert.

“We’re here. Las Vegas is closer than Los Angeles at this point. I suggest, you take a truck and make your way there to meet up with Dan and to call this mess in.”

“Hold up. How did you just figure that out?”

“The stars.”

“As if. They look exactly the same as they would over here,” Chloe argued, pointing to another spot on the map.

“No, they don’t. Trust me, I know the stars.” He gathered up the map and stood up, motioning for Chloe to follow. “Come on.”

Chloe, with the flashlight still in her hand, gently pushed forward to get Trixie to move along. She did, albeit reluctantly. She still hadn’t said a word. Lucifer put the map on the dashboard of the truck he’d found it in and opened the door to the backseat for Trixie.

Chloe raised an eyebrow at him. “We don’t have the keys, Lucifer.”

“No need.” There was a slight smile on his lips as suddenly the engine rumbled to life _with no one at the wheel_. Chloe flinched at the sound and held Trixie even tighter. Trixie, however, had lifted her head, the tears had dried, leaving her eyes red and puffy, and she looked at the truck in wonder before quickly letting go of Chloe and scrambling to get into the backseat of the truck.

“What else can you do?” Chloe found herself asking breathlessly.

“No time for that now,” Lucifer dodged the question and nodded at the running truck. “Get in and get going.”

Chloe blinked. “You’re not coming?”

“No. I believe, I’ve caused enough distress.” He grimaced and looked down. “You don’t have to worry about me any longer, Detective. I’ll be out of your hair come morning.”

“First of all, it’s Chloe!” She didn’t know why she raised her voice but she found sudden anger bubbling up inside of her. “And you are not leaving. You are coming with us!”

“But—”

“No, Lucifer. I won’t just—I won’t just watch you walk out of my life again. Not after everything that happened.”

“I thought you didn’t want me in your life anymore.”

“I changed my mind!” She took a step into his personal space and when he started to back away in turn, she poked a finger at his chest. “You will _promise_ me that you will not disappear on me again. For now, you are coming with us to Vegas and afterwards you will not leave LA.”

“Why do you get to decide that for me?” he spoke through gritted teeth.

“You have no reason to leave.”

“I have plenty of reasons.”

“Well, when we get back to LA, you will have time to explain those reasons to me. Now get in.” Chloe tried to push him towards the open door of the backseat but she might as well have tried to push a skyscraper.

“Chloe,” he began hesitantly. “I can’t promise to keep it together. And I don’t want to upset Beatrice or you any further.”

“I’m not upset because of you. Sure, you’re on edge, I can tell. I can literally feel it. But it doesn’t scare me, Lucifer. I want to help you.”

“Why on earth would you—”

“You’re my _friend_ and you just saved my life. Trixie’s life. I am not abandoning you in the middle of the desert.” She could feel tears threaten to spill from her eyes in her frustration to get through to him. Just before her voice left her entirely, she asked, “Are you angry with me?”

“What?”

“Are you angry with me? For running away at the loft? For ignoring you?” A single tear fell from her right eye.

Lucifer’s gaze was fixed on her but he wasn’t quite looking into her eyes. His own seemed far away and without the usual mischief in them, they looked so much older. Tired in a way that Chloe had never seen before. “No.” The single syllable broke the silence harshly. “I want to be but, ultimately, it’s all my fault. So, no. I’m not angry. I may have hated your reaction but I understood it.”

“Let me make it up to you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“But I want to,” Chloe said determinedly.  “Please, let me. Just get in the car and come with us.”

She shoved him towards the car once more and this time he didn’t resist, didn’t even complain that Chloe is seating him in the backseat next to Trixie. She closed the door behind him before he could have any second thoughts about it. When she sat behind the wheel, glancing in the rear-view mirror, she saw Lucifer pressing himself against the door as far away from Trixie as possible. It seemed a barely conscious action, but Chloe knew it wasn’t his usual aversion to Trixie. She knew he was keeping away from her daughter for Trixie’s benefit. He thought himself the monster and didn’t want to scare her or Chloe.

But Chloe had put him in the backseat for a very good reason. She was proven right in her assumption, when shortly after Chloe had pulled away from the run-down warehouse, turning on the headlights to find her way across the desert sand, she saw Trixie shift from her position.

Lucifer froze when the girl wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her head in the fabric of his shirt. He seemed to have forgotten to breathe for a moment, his arm hovering over Trixie’s back, not daring to touch her. But when Trixie didn’t pull away again, he slowly relaxed. His arm lowered bit by bit until he hugged her to his side gently, his expression one of wonder.

Chloe smiled, relieved. The heat, the stifling presence that she hadn’t consciously noticed anymore at that point, for it had been there ever since Lucifer had woken after the accident, faded away. Trixie had calmed him down. Trixie he would never hurt. And Trixie felt safer with the Devil at her side. Just like Chloe did.

She pointed the truck into the direction of Las Vegas, following the map on the dashboard to find her way. When she checked on the remaining fuel halfway, she found the indicator resolutely pointing at _empty_ and, with a smile on her lips, decided not to question it.

* * *

 

The lights of Las Vegas seemed incredibly bright compared to the darkness that had surrounded them in the desert. Blinking at them from every building and every neon sign, they drew Trixie’s attention like a beacon. She was still cuddled underneath Lucifer’s arm, preferring to stare out the window on his side. Lucifer himself didn’t pay the lights any attention. His eyes were either on Trixie or on the back of Chloe’s head. He had been entirely silent the entire drive and that was one of the longest times he’d sat without talking that Chloe had ever witnessed.

She pulled the truck into the parking lot of the hotel Dan had named as his current whereabouts and the engine stuttered and died just as she rolled to a stop. She glanced at Lucifer in the mirror. He gave her a weak smile that still spoke of the wonder that was Trixie’s affection was to him.

Now, however, Trixie freed herself from his embrace and scrambled to get out of the vehicle. Her eyes were glued to the tall buildings that, even though it was about two in the morning now, were brightly lit, the streets around them bustling with life.

Chloe reached for Trixie’s hand, crouching down to her level. “Can you stay with Lucifer for a few more moments? I’m have to go tell the police about the bad men and then find your daddy.”

Trixie nodded. “Yes, mommy.”

Lucifer’s voice startled Chloe slightly She hadn’t noticed him getting out of the truck, nor had she noticed him standing right next to them. “What are you going to tell the police?”

“I’ll call it in anonymously. I don’t want or need the trouble of giving statements tonight,” she explained. “Will you look after Trixie for a few minutes?”

He hinted at a bow, his head inclined slightly, which to Chloe always looked like he’d stumbled into the wrong decade. Trixie let go of Chloe’s hand and wrapped her arms around Lucifer’s waist once more. To Chloe’s surprise, Lucifer gently freed himself only to lean down, hoisting Trixie up all the way into his arms. He held her on his waist effortlessly and Trixie didn’t question it, wrapping her arms around his neck instead.

“I’ll arrange you a place to stay for the night,” he said, nodding towards the more prestigious hotel across the street.

“You mean _us_.”

The ghost of a smile crossed his lips. “I will arrange _us_ a place to stay.”

Chloe let him go then and she quickly called in a child trafficking organization anonymously. The officer of the LVPD didn’t seem to happy, when she refused to give any more details before hanging up but she had other priorities at the moment.

Taking their bags out of the truck, she entered the hotel and found Dan half asleep in the lobby, sprawled across a couch. His own bag was on his lap and Chloe knew he would have a kink in his neck from the position he’d dozed off in. She approached him and gently tapped his knee to wake him. He bolted upright, shaking his head to diffuse the sleepiness.

“Chlo, hey. You’re here.”

“I am. Come on, sleepyhead. You need a real bed.”

“Aren’t we going back to LA?” Dan blinked several times, trying to decipher the time on his watch. “Wow, okay, it’s late.”

“Well, funny story,” Chloe grinned. “I don’t have a car, so no, we’re not going back to LA tonight.”

“You don’t—how did you get here?”

“It’s been a long night, Dan. The short version is, well…” She ran a hand through her already messy hair. “I borrowed a car from Lucifer, like you suggested. He came along and I didn’t have a sitter, so I had to bring Trixie as well.”

“Lucifer is here?!” Dan exclaimed and his eyes roamed the lobby but Chloe gave him a stern look.

“You will not say a single bad word about him. Not tonight. Not after I drove here to get you. Understood?”

“Where is he? Is he with Trixie?”

“I said, understood?”

Dan grit his teeth. “Yes. Fine.”

“He’s getting us a room to stay for the night. And yes, he’s taking care of Trixie. Dan,” she said with emphasis to get his attention. “We were ambushed on the way here. The car is totaled and lost somewhere in the desert. They tried to kidnap Trixie, tied me and Lucifer up in a warehouse and threatened our lives. Are you getting all that?” She watched Dan’s eyes grow wide, his mouth opening to say something but she went on. “So, no, we don’t have a car at the moment. I owe Lucifer my life and Trixie’s as well and he’s currently the one who’s getting you a place to stay, so don’t you dare say anything bad about him.”

“Is Trixie okay? Are you?”

“Trixie is shaken up but she feels safe with Lucifer. We’re both fine save for a couple of cuts and bruises.”

“Can I see her?” Dan asked quietly.

“Come on,” Chloe said and stood, grabbing Dan’s bag. He followed her out of the hotel and across the street. She immediately felt out of place in the fancy hotel but her eyes found Lucifer quickly and she pushed those thoughts aside. Trixie was still in his arms, he probably hadn’t set her down once, and her daughter was smiling. A heavy load fell off Chloe’s shoulders at the sight of her best friend and her little girl. They were alright. And that was all Chloe really needed.

She saw Dan tense, when he spotted Lucifer holding Trixie but true to his word he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he hurried to get to Trixie. The girl smiled even brighter, when she saw her dad approaching and she stretched from Lucifer’s arms towards Dan’s. Lucifer readily handed her over to her father and Chloe swore Dan even mouthed a _thank you_ at Lucifer, who just nodded in acknowledgement.

Chloe reached them just as Trixie told Dan excitedly about staying at this hotel all night. She didn’t even mention what had happened earlier and Chloe could only be glad that her mind had already found something else to concentrate on.

Lucifer stepped closer to her, holding out a key card. “For your room. It’s just one room for you, Daniel and Beatrice. But it should be big enough.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be two doors down from your room,” he assured her with a smirk. “I won’t leave. I promised your daughter to get her a really fancy hotel breakfast tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, Lucifer, you don’t need to spend any more money on us. This is already too much. Not to mention your wrecked car.”

“Darling, if there’s anything I have too much of, it’s money. Don’t worry about that.”

Chloe huffed out a breath. She wanted to thank him, wanted to tell him how much she appreciated everything he’d done, but she didn’t even know where to start. He seemed to sense that she wanted to say _something_ , though, and he quickly took a step back, freeing the path towards the elevators.

“You should go and get some rest, Detective.”

“Chloe.”

“Right.” He cleared his throat. “Go on, then. They already brought your bags upstairs.”

Chloe looked over to Dan and Trixie, her daughter was still chatting away, and Dan held on to their daughter like he was planning to never let her go again. She knew that he would demand a full explanation regarding their kidnapping but it could wait. They needed a break. Thanking Lucifer once more, she touched his arm in a gesture of goodbye and moved to take Trixie and Dan upstairs.

“I’m glad you’re safe,” Lucifer suddenly called after her. Chloe turned once more to look at him as he fidgeted nervously. “You and Beatrice. I—I’m just glad you’re safe.”

“I am glad you are safe as well, Lucifer.”

“Good night. Chloe.”

She smiled. “Good night.”

* * *

 

It was about two hours later, when Chloe gently rapped her fingers against the door of Lucifer’s room. When he opened the door, his expression was one of confusion that quickly lit up, when he saw who it was.

“Hi,” Chloe whispered.

“What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, all good. Trixie and Dan are out cold but I couldn’t sleep.”

Lucifer tilted his head to the side. “Nightmares?”

“No, just couldn’t fall asleep. And I—can we talk?” she asked, shifting her weight from one foot to the other nervously.

He stepped back, opening the door further, and Chloe shuffled past him into the room. The only light came from the lamp on the bedside table. The bed was still made, his bag on top of the covers. So, he hadn’t slept, either. Stiffly, Chloe sat down on the bed. Lucifer stood before her, seemingly at a loss as to what to with himself.

“Sit, please,” Chloe asked him and after a moment of hesitation he did. Chloe toed her shoes off and pulled her legs up onto the bed, turning sideways to sit facing him. “Lucifer, I—”

“You really don’t have to do this,” he interrupted her.

“Do what?”

“Pretend.”

“Who says I’m pretending?”

He sighed and mirrored her sitting position until they sat across from each other, both with their legs crossed underneath them. “I know that what happened today and what happened with Cain—Pierce, I mean…” He trailed off.

“Can I start?” Chloe asked and tried to catch his gaze. His dark eyes looked wary but he gave the tiniest of nods. “Lucifer, I should have never run from you.” He opened his mouth but Chloe held up a hand. “No, let me finish. I shouldn’t have. I was scared of what it all meant and, truly, all of this is terrifying, but I should never have doubted _you_. You didn’t deserve my doubt. And you have every right to be pissed at me for taking all of this so badly. I just want to apologize.”

“Apology accepted. But that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t in the wrong as well. I should have shown you earlier but I feared it would—I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

“You feared I would run. And I did. So, you were right in not telling me.”

“I just don’t understand why you won’t just let me leave,” he said, desperation in his voice. “Staying is making it all so much harder.”

“I don’t want you to leave, Lucifer. I want to go back to how things were before.”

“But it can’t!”

His sudden shout made Chloe flinch but she didn’t let herself be deterred. “No, sorry, that’s not what I meant. I don’t want it to be like before.”

“Then what do you want? What do you want from me, Detective, because I am at a loss here. What am I to do?”

“I just want you to stay. Don’t leave.”

“But you _know_! I am the Devil. You’ve seen and you—you are scared of me. How can you still want me around?”

“I didn’t do my best at showing it, but I stand by what I said: not to me. You may be the Devil but that’s not the man I got to know. Not my best friend. He’s a good man and he saved my life today, my daughter’s life, put himself in harm’s way for me and comforted my daughter afterwards. Those are not the deeds of the Devil. That’s what Lucifer Morningstar did. And I don’t think I can let him go.”

“Chloe.” It sounded like a desperate plea. “I can’t do this.”

“Can’t do what?”

“I can’t be around you, knowing that you hate me. I can’t bear staying in LA, knowing that I will never get what I want. I suppose you know how I feel about you—I hope you do, cause I’m not saying it out loud—but you don’t reciprocate those feelings. And now I suppose you never will. Now that you know the monster.”

“But I want you to keep working with me,” Chloe whispered, her voice forsaking her.

“You what?”

“I want you to play Monopoly with me and Trixie. I want to sit next to you, when you play piano. I want to watch movies with you, listening to you complain the entire time. I want to look forward to seeing you every morning in the precinct. And I want to roll my eyes at your stupid innuendoes!”

“But you—”

“I don’t hate you. I could _never_ hate you.” She furiously wiped a tear away from her cheek. “And who knows, maybe I _do_ reciprocate those feelings.”

Lucifer laughed, but it was devoid of any humor. “Right,” he spat. “You do realize you kissed a monster, don’t you? Someone not even human.” Chloe felt her throat closing up, her heart jumping, when his eyes turned crimson. The whites of his eyes darkened until they were black and those terrifying, inhuman eyes stared at her, unblinking, daring her to react, to scream. “How could you love me?”

She didn’t recoil, though. Didn’t run, didn’t scream. She held his gaze steadily, ignoring the shivers running down her back. With only slightly shaky fingers she reached into the pouch of the hoodie she’d thrown on before coming to Lucifer’s room, pulling out a slim metal hairband. Attached to it were two small black horns. She turned it around in her hands before meeting his eyes again.

They were back to a deep brown, curiously looking down at the devil horns in her hands.

“Trixie got that for you,” she said in way of an explanation. “She wanted to give it to you.”

“The spawn bought me that?”

“No, she traded it at school for a couple of her favorite stickers.”

“What for?”

“She wanted you to come trick-or-treating with us.”

“And she got me a... costume?” he asked baffled.

“Well, how was she supposed to know you wouldn’t need one?” Chloe handed him the horns and he took them. “They are a gift either way. She wanted to include you because she noticed I wasn’t talking to you. And the Devil was the most straightforward choice.”

“I know she saw today. I—I didn’t mean to scare her.”

“She’s fine. She’s tough and she’s not afraid of you. You saw what she did in the car. She feels safer with you.”

“But why?”

“You saved her. Not just today but also from Malcolm.”

He huffed. “Doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be terrified when faced with the literal Devil.”

“Why are you trying so hard to paint such a bad picture of yourself? I thought you wanted people to see that you’re not evil. I thought you hated the prejudice. Why try to scare us away now?”

“Because sooner or later you’ll come to your senses and run. I’d rather you abandon me now.”

“I won’t run. It’s still a lot to take in and a lot to understand. But I trust you.” She reached for his hand but he pulled it back before her fingers could touch his. She didn’t comment on it. Instead, she gathered up all the scattered pieces of courage she could still find and asked, “Your face, why does it look like that?”

He visibly recoiled. “Must we talk about that?”

“I just want to understand. I can’t and won’t avoid talking about who and what you are. If we’re going to be partners and work cases, I want to do it with everything out in the open,” she admitted. “And the fact that you have another face is crucial information. I won’t just ignore it for the rest of our lives.”

“Doesn’t it suffice to know that it’s there?”

“Lucifer, please.”

He narrowed his eyes and Chloe could still vividly picture the haunting red as he tried to gauge her intentions. “I burned once. And that face is a reminder of that. A reminder of my insubordination, my mistakes and my punishment.”

“You can change it deliberately, can’t you?”

“There’s been exceptions but essentially, yes.”

“Will you show me again?”

“No.” The answer was immediate and determined, his lips a hard line. “It’s a punishment and not meant for show and tell.”

“You use it to punish people.”

“It drives humans mad with fear, Detective. You’ve seen them. None of them would ever ask for a second viewing.”

“I’m not them,” Chloe argued. “I’ve seen it and I’m not scared.”

Lucifer scoffed. “Don’t lie. I hate liars.”

“Alright, okay. It is a little unnerving and I won’t deny that it scared the shit out of me, but I’m asking to see it now, fully prepared, and I know that you’re not going to hurt me.”

“I appreciate your confidence in me, I truly do. But I won’t show you. You don’t deserve it.”

“It’s not about what I deserve. It’s about what I want.”

“Well, what about what I want? Don’t I get a say in this? My true form is not a party favor. Next you’re going to ask to see my wings and it’ll turn you into a raging lunatic.”

Chloe breathed in sharply. “You really do have wings,” she whispered, one hand covering her mouth. Suddenly, so many pieces of the puzzle fell into place. She struggled to cope with the sudden flood of thoughts and only noticed that she was staring into space, when Lucifer’s fingers brushed across her cheek.

“Detective,” his warm voice rumbled. “Please, stay with me.”

“You were hurt.”

“What?”

“The feathers at the loft. They were yours and I just dismissed them. There was blood. Oh, Lucifer, I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, none of that now. I’m fine.”

Chloe didn’t think before reaching out, her arms around his neck in a firm hug. Her face was buried in the side of his neck and she didn’t want to let go of him again, his warmth bleeding into her. With her heart in her throat, she squeezed him tighter, feeling his heart pick up speed. His _heartbeat_ along hers in her chest felt so right. It didn’t matter in that moment that he wasn’t human. He was her Lucifer and no matter how hard he tried to cover it up, he was lonely and he needed her. And she needed him.

Lucifer had frozen, when she had thrown her arms around him, but Chloe felt him relax bit by bit until he returned the hug, his hands splayed on her back, holding her closer.

“I’m sorry, Lucifer.”

“So am I, Chloe.”

When she eventually let go of him she saw something in his eyes that she struggled to place. Maybe it was awe but tinged with sadness and a vulnerability that he usually did his best to hide. “What is it?” she asked softly.

His eyes looked down the, watching his own hands as they picked up the devil horns that lay forgotten on the sheets between them. “Do you—are you sure you want this? You want me to stay?”

“Yes. One hundred per cent sure.”

He still didn’t look at her. “And you really want to see?”

Chloe had to swallow once, hating her nerves for acting up right in that moment, but she persevered and nodded. “I do.”

Lucifer hummed, then raised his gaze to her. Chloe forced her breathing to remain calm, when crimson and black eyes met hers. He didn’t blink, didn’t move any further altogether, just letting her see.

She didn’t know for how long she just sat and stared but eventually she lifted her right hand, shakily reaching out towards his face. He didn’t stop her, didn’t move away, just let her fingertips touch his cheek, her thumb tracing an invisible line beneath his eye. The red of his iris seemed to swirl from time to time as she stared into their depths but she didn’t look away again.

“Is that enough?” he asked softly. “Have you seen enough?”

“Don’t hide from me. You don’t have to, anymore.”

“This doesn’t frighten you?”

She thought about the wording for a second but shook her head. “They are something to get used to, slightly unnerving, yes, but not frightening.”

He tilted his head to the side and Chloe found his eyes were harder to read like this. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking but then, he was the one to move. He got up, Chloe’s eyes following him as he resettled on the bed behind her. She was about to turn to face him but he stopped her with both hands on her arms. His still crimson eyes begging her to comply.

He turned her head away from him and settled his arms around her hips from behind, placing his hands in hers in her lap.

“Lucifer, what—”

“Bear with me, okay. Just let me take this slow.” His voice was just above a whisper, nerves making his speech slower than usual.

Chloe didn’t argue. She gently held on to his hands in her lap, incredibly aware of his person right behind her. Then she felt his usual heat intensifying and saw his hands in her lap change from one moment to the next. The unblemished skin disappeared, replaced by red and black. The skin was rougher like this, the scars an unfamiliar texture. They looked severely burned and Chloe would deem them the hands of a dead burn victim, if they hadn’t moved.

His fingers tightened around hers just a tiny bit and she could hear his breath hitch as she inspected his hands. With apprehension towards the answer, she asked, “Does it hurt?”

“Not anymore. In the beginning it hurt a lot.” It was still his voice, the same nuances in tone and the same warm rumble.

Slowly, and very aware of his every movement, Chloe turned her upper body, unfolding her crossed legs underneath her until she could turn all the way. His eyes weren’t downcast. They met hers straight on. 

The black of the edges of his red eyes stood in stark contrast to the dark red of his skin. Chloe held in the gasp that was about to escape her at the sight but she couldn’t stop her heart from beating faster. It looked painful, terribly painful, and no matter how much she wanted to deny it, it was scary. It made instincts stir, yelling at her to run and hide because right in front of her was _danger_. But Chloe knew better. Lucifer may be dangerous but not to her. Never her.

He grimaced, then, and suddenly his familiar face was back, his eyes back to brown. “Is that enough?” he asked again.

And Chloe nodded. “Yes. You are.”

 

 


End file.
